Richmond's First Baptist Church

Jim Somerville: "This is where it becomes good news. If it were only something that happened a long time ago, to somebody named Jesus, we might not be in church this morning, but Paul insists this Resurrection life, this life with a capital 'L', is for all of us. We might have to die a small 'd' death, but we don't have to stay dead. Christ is risen, and we will rise too...!"

Dr. Jim Somerville's homily from Maundy Thursday, April 18, 2019.

Jim Somerville: "There is something beautiful about saying yes to [Jesus], something beautiful about laying down all your stubborn resistance and all your reasonable objections and simply saying, 'Yes!' You can feel the joy bubbling up inside you as you do it. You can feel the word 'Hosanna!' forming on your lips..."

Dr. Jim Somerville's Lenten homily from Wednesday, April 10, 2019. A look at how God’s goodness is revealed in Jesus’ willingness to offer his life for others.

Jim Somerville: "Mary was different. She didn’t always do the thing that made the most sense. But she did listen to Jesus. She really listened. And then she did what she thought he would want her to do. It makes me wonder: when was the last time you really listened to him...?"

Dr. Jim Somerville's Lenten homily from Wednesday, April 3, 2019.

Jim Somerville: "God's circle is big, big enough to hold the entire world. What bothers God is not people coming inside the circle who shouldn't be there, but people who are inside the circle slipping out..."

Dr. Jim Somerville's Lenten homily from Wednesday, March 27, 2019.

Emerson Shelton's homily from the Service of Prayer for Healing, Sunday, March 24, 2019.

Jim Somerville: "Some people seem to have this idea that God wrote the Bible and then dropped it from heaven just as it is, all 66 books from Genesis to Revelation, and that all of those books—in fact every verse, every word—carries equal authority because all of them are the words of God, written with his own finger on tablets of stone just like the Ten Commandments..."